Anti-gun control propaganda (found here) aimed at EVERYBODY.
What you might expect from the pro-gun lobby:
For kids!
Pro-gun feminism?
Guns are for fags:
Gun control is racist:
Bill F. sent in this one. What’s interesting about this image is the comment on masculinity–the implication is that “pacifist” men (whatever “pacifist” is taken to mean) aren’t “real” men because they can’t or won’t fulfill their role of protecting women. The gun becomes a replacement for sissified men.
This is a really interesting comparative analysis of the Kerry and Bush logos from the most recent presidential election. Notice how gender and class operate in the design and analysis.
Richard also pointed me to this slide show, also from the New York Times, commenting on logos for the candidates in the current primaries.
This might be a useful image for talking about the commodification of protest and “alternative” culture. It was being sold at the H&M store in Pasadena. It’s the latest in a progression of the co-opting of the punk aesthetic–first stores like Hot Topic started selling clothing with rips and safety pins and such in them, so you could go pay a lot of money for pre-packaged punk or goth looks. Now it’s gone a step further where they no longer even bother to put a real safety pin in–now you just get pictures of safety pins, meant to evoke that sense of non-conformity in the safest, most easily-marketed way possible, along with your Sum 41 (or whatever their name is) CD.
The Dodge La Femme (1955 and 1956):
Here are some pictures of some restored La Femme’s:
Pink rosebud patterned upholstery:
It even came with matching accessories!
An umbrella and raincoat:
A compact:
A coin purse:
I think showing this car would be interesting in comparison with the contemporary marketing of feminine guns (see Gwen’s post here). The guns look surprisingly like the car.
It would also be interesting, I think, to do a discussion about whether and how they market cars to women today. They do, of course, but the ideal femininity has changed and so, therefore, have the cars. Women, though, haven’t changed very much. One of the reasons that the La Femme didn’t sell was because women were, frankly, offended.
NEW (Jan. ’09)! I found this effort to market cars to women from 1969, the “women-winning” Barracuda with “pop prints” and “gals in mind”!
NEW! (Nov. ’09): Tim McC. sent in this trailer for a Volvo concept car specifically for women. It’s really interesting to compare the marketing of a car to women in the 1950s versus today.
Notice that while beauty is still important, today there’s also an emphasis on the car being tough–but not too tough, not brutal.
Tim adds,
YCC has some fairly significant design decisions (some arguably limitations) that seems to imply certain things about the intended market. For example, the car has no hood that can be opened by the owner. Instead, the car must be taken to the shop for engine maintenance and oil changes. The tires are also run-flat, meaning that the tires will continue to work after a flat, again so that the car can be taken to a garage for the tire change. This seems to imply that the company assumes that women are too ignorant or too afraid to fix their own mechanical problems. This also implies that DIY work on engines or really any technological product is a male pursuit. Keeping women from working on engines seems to say that women shouldn’t have to even consider working with technology. It also features automated parallel parking (a feature common on luxury cars, but prominently emphasized in the materials), which may carry sexist undertones å la the “woman driver” stereotype. The drive train is hybrid-electric, which implies that environmentalism is a feminine concept.
Women, if you are lucky, you too could look like a piece of Chex Mix:
NEW! You desire these kitchen counters and cupboards like you desire that “dream” woman’s curves. I know you do. (Thanks Sarah N!)
I also have to ask: Above her head it reads “Studio White — Featuring Curves.” Could this be a race joke? You know, black women are curvy, so a white woman’s curves is a special feature? I don’t know. I may be reading too much into it.
Power as cleaning products (note the appropriation of Rosie the Riveter):
Power as a flippy skirt and cute glasses (the text: “That flippy skirt backs up your girl power, do your glasses?”):
Power as beauty:
NEW! Nuvaring is a flexible ring that women place around their cervix once a month (image found here). It slowly releases hormones that prevent ovulation. “Let Freedom Ring!”
ALSO NEW! Need to compete with those men in their “power ties,” have some “power panties”:
NEW! (July ’10): Robb S. sent in another use of Rosie the Riveter by a “green” housecleaning service called Maid to Clean. No, seriously; Rose the Riveter, the icon of women’s contribution to the World War II war industry, was “maid to clean”:
Here’s an article with a gun vendor talking about women wanting pretty guns.
NEW (Dec ’09)! Harvey tC. sent in this photo of a set of rifles for sale at Ace Hardware in Eau Claire:
Interestingly, when you google “pink gun,” one of the first sites that comes up is Pink Pistols, a gay/lesbian gun organization.
NEW (Jun. ’10)! Jillian took this snapshot of guns for sale at Academy Sports in Oklahoma City, OK:
